Category: Philanthropy

Dick DeVos is the eldest son of Richard DeVos, Sr. who had co-founded the Amway Corporation with Jay Van Andel. The Amway Corporation is a privately owned company that is into network sales. The company distributes health, household as well as personal care products through a string of dealers. They will be recruiting second level dealers who in turn, will be recruiting third level dealers and so on. The final level dealers here will typically be the end consumers. All the products of Amway move through this type of product chain.

Dick DeVos joined the Amway Corporation. This was in 1974. He was holding a number of positions here. This is because he wanted to get an idea of varying levels of responsibility in the company. He worked in a number of operating departments of the company.

Dick DeVos became the vice president of the company in 1984. He was looking into its operations that were spread in 18 countries. This was one way for him to get experience that extended beyond his firm that was owned by the family. It was in 1989 that Dick DeVos left the firm in order to start his own business venture. This is how The Windquest Group came about. This is a company that manufactures as well as markets a variety of storage as well as closet organizers.

In 1991, Dick DeVos was appointed for managing the franchise of National Basket Association’s Orlando Magic Basketball, by his father. This franchise had been acquired by their family. Dick DeVos managed this as well as his company, the Windquest Group.

Dick DeVos joined Amway Corporation once again in 1993. Now he was its president. He restructured the Amway Corporation in 2000. This was done by establishing an umbrella firm called the Alticor Corporation. It comprised of a number of companies. These included the Amway Corporation, in addition to the Quixtar Corporation along with the Access Business Group. This new structure of Alticor, allowed the firm to expand and take its operations to over 50 countries that were spread over six continents.

Dick DeVos retired from the post of president of Alticor in 2002. Now he wanted to devote all his time to the Windquest Group which was his own private venture. He became its president. He devoted his balance time to political causes that were close to his heart.

He entered politics properly in 2006. He ran for the post of the governor from the state of Michigan. This was on the Republican ticket. He was the wealthiest man at that time to be running for the post of governor of Michigan. He made use of his wealth in order to finance the campaign. This was around $40 million. But he lost by a margin of 14 points.

In 2013, the Philanthropy magazine posted an interview with Betsy DeVos highlighting the status of education reform and progress of school of choice movement. Betsy confirmed that the school choice program had 33 private choice programs based in the District of California and across 17 states in 2013. Additionally, these programs had about 250,000 students. A study conducted by Betsy and her team established that educational choice enjoyed unprecedented popularity among the Latinos.

Success of School Choice in Florida and Louisiana

According to Mrs. DeVos, the educational choice program experienced its biggest success in Florida. The Florida’s program had more than 50,000 students. When programs in Louisiana and Indiana are combined, they can serve close to one million students. She is aware that the programs may not attract one million students, but she is also optimistic that the adoption rates will be higher. Mrs. DeVos encourages politicians to take a bipartisan approach when it comes to educational matters.

Dick DeVos: an incredible profile

Dick DeVos is a multi-talented individual, who has accomplished a lot in the corporate, philanthropy, and political world. He has founded many successful companies and served in executive positions at Amway International, The Windquest Group, as well as Orlando Magic. He contested for the Michigan Gubernatorial seat, but Jennifer Granholm emerged the winner. According to the Forbes Magazine, DeVos was worth $5.1 billion, and he was the 67th wealthiest person in the U.S.

Other than success in the entrepreneurial world, DeVos is an active participant in community initiatives. He is the founder of Education Freedom Fund, an organization that gave more than 4,000 scholarship opportunities to Michigan-based needy kids. Dick DeVos and his wife were appointed as the Education Freedom Fund’s co-chair back in 1993. He founded the West Michigan Aviation Academy, a renowned high school that specializes in offering an all-inclusive educational program with an aviation focus. DeVos co-chairs Grand Action, an organization that revitalizes the downtown Grand Rapids area. He has served as a board member of Willow Creek Association, Michigan Chamber of Commerce, and Spectrum Health System.

Dick and Betsy foundation

Dick DeVos and Betsy DeVos actively participate in running the affairs of Windquest Group, an investment management company headquartered in Michigan. The privately held company focuses on dynamic projects in manufacturing, hospitality, clean-tech industry, and nonprofit solutions. DeVos and his wife are the founders of Dick & Betsy Foundation, a non-profit that advocates for the improvement of education, bettering the community, enhancing pragmatic leadership, promoting arts and justice.